One of the largest improvements was believed to be at St Peter’s High School in Longsight – where 64 per cent of student achieved the benchmark, up from 56pc previously. More than half of students at the school, rated outstanding by Ofsted, are eligible for free school meals.

Thrilled headteacher John McNerny said he was immensely proud of what pupils and staff had achieved this year.

He said: “They have worked so hard. Last year we saw a big improvement in our results, this year it is even better. It has been a huge effort by everyone at the school.”

Other city schools – including Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury and Levenshulme High School for Girls – also reported a surge in good grades.

Patsy Kane, headteacher of Whalley Range High School for Girls, said 56pc of her students had met the government threshold this year – up from 53pc before.

She said: “This has been a great year for us. We are so proud of our girls and what they have achieved.”

And Zoe Morris, deputy head of Chorlton High School, said pupils at her school school had also smashed the previous best results.

She added: “It’s been a bumper year for us. We’ve had more students gaining A and A* grades than ever before.

“We serve a very mixed community but believe we are doing a good job for all our pupils. We track our pupils as they go onto sixth form college. Several of them are going to Oxford and Cambridge this year.”

Peter Mulholland, headteacher of William Hulme Grammar School, which although state-funded, is independent of Manchester council, said he was pleased with the early indications.

He said: “We are delighted with our outstanding GCSE results that maintain our high academic standards as an inner city academy.”

Last year 69 per cent of all exams gained an A*-C grade - with more than a fifth (23pc) awarded an A* or A mark.

Official exam board statistics were being released this morning but the GCSE pass rate was expected to rise for the 24th year. GCSE grades have risen almost continually since the first results for the exams in 1988.